Forget Huey & Louie, it's all about Dewey…

Would You Like To Feel Our New Carpet?

I’ve not worked a Saturday since April 2010. Weird.

Since my defection from the opposition, I’ve gotten used to the whole, “Working nine-to-five, what a way to make a living” thing; and I must say I rather enjoy it: the routine, the commute (I know, seriously- even falling asleep on the train home and suddenly waking with panic, only to realise we’re still in Clapton…) and the feeling that I’ve made full use of a day. When I worked part-time, I had too much free time on my hands, which I blatantly wasted.

Yet, I’d forgotten how much I valued working on a Saturday: the relationships I built with my colleagues and friends, and the satisfaction of functioning independently.

Helping out at the Undergraduate Open Day today reminded me of those positive feelings.

Weekends are different, they feel different- I became quite territorial about full-timers trespassing on my patch; by the same token, when I covered during the week, I always felt like I had been parachuted in, or brought off the bench like a substitute.

Sometimes, working separately from the rest of the team can be unavoidably problematic, for obvious reasons; but spending time outside of my routine acted like a happy memory trigger this afternoon.

Good times.

So what of the Open Day itself?

A big well done to everyone involved for their efforts, especially TeamLibrary! Despite a few technical hitches, some logistical challenges and several questions outside of the crib-sheet remit*, everything went well and (hopefully) we made a good impression! Let’s face it, our Libraries are happening places- just ask the students who try sneaking their X-Boxes, takeaways, alcoholic beverages and tobacco into the Group Study Rooms! Oh, and football in the Sandpit anyone?

Our message was simple- come to City, because the Library is great. Library win!

(Just a note to any senior colleagues reading this- don’t worry, we did elaborate further than a one sentence soundbite)

It was cool to engage with the potential newbies & their parents, and to try to convey the exciting ways in which the Library services work to support and enhance the student learning experience. We do a lot of good stuff, and we should be proud to tell that to anyone who’ll listen.

Less cool was the harsh realisation that it’s now ten years since I went on my first campus tours- and I am amazed at just how confident and single-minded everyone appears to be these days. Are the financial implications of going to university having an impact? Or am I just getting older? Oh God, next I’ll be typing “In my day…”

Sigh.

All in all, I think we put in a solid display, and fully deserved the chocolatey treats so generously provided in order to meet our end-of-day, celebratory, sugar-fix needs.

Speaking of needs, I needed to include this somewhere. Trust me, it’s amazing:

*My top 3 curve-ball questions:

So, what’s the music scene like around here?

How close are we to the ‘cool’ places?

How does City compare with Warwick University, in particular in terms of its business courses and institutional history?

(I wont tell you the answers I provided, on the grounds that it may embarrass all parties concerned, i.e. me…)

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2 thoughts on “Would You Like To Feel Our New Carpet?”

Yes saturday was fun in its own way. Plenty of ideas for suggestions on improvement.
Just as well I didn’t get asked the question on the local music scene as I would have pointed him down the road to the Barbican Hall which I suspect was not what he meant!